Cursed Times - Only Yesterday! Sequel to Wattys 2015 winner!

Chapter 20: Trueth- At The Crossroads Part 1

'Dream on, sunshine!' Metjen was beginning to sound more like his old self.

Trueth spun towards the others. 'What you reckon, do we want old grumpy back with us?'

Seisi put a finger to his lips and shook his head. Too late.

...of this now. You procrastinate again. You always do. Tell them what they need to know!

Iseret's voice was like a thunderclap in their brains. All their brains. The cats shot up, spat and dashed for the safety of the deckhouse. The familiar smell of metal and myrrh wafted after them.

'Hello Iseret, how's life. Death I mean,' Rani-Ra said.

Undignified.

'Why, what's your problem?' Ranofer asked.

No body!

'Ah, but a lot of ladies would envy you for possessing this particular specimen.' Trueth opened the lid of the basket she knew to contain mother's latest concoction, vanilla fig bakes.

Metjen flipped her the bird. To her right, Seisi was fighting to keep his composure.

'What?' Trueth asked.

'Oh nothing, she will tell you should she see the need. Now, I believe there is something we are to understand?' Seisi unsuccessfully tried to hide his mirth behind his hand.

Banging and flapping noises came from the sail above; the wind must have changed again. With a jolt, the magical oars took over, sending soft vibrations through the scrubbed planks of the decks. As the ship moved position, the shadow of the ornamental lotus flower crowning the stern moved across, exposing them to the scorching rays of the midday sun.

With a grateful sigh, Metjen sunk back into his plump cushions. 'Okay, this is the brief,' he said with a bonhomie that felt forced. 'We must fix that portal. Otherwise, we'll have the hellish hordes here in no time. To do that, we need one of the seals the circle created when the portal was first built. The wig was one of them, by the way.'

Rani-Ra guffawed.

'Yeah, I know. And before you say anything, the damn thing's gone,' Metjen said.

'Where's your problem, just use one of the others or create some more.' Ranofer grabbed the jug with the pomegranate juice, pouring out a measure for himself. 'Drink anybody?'

Trueth thrust out her copper goblet and clanged into Metjen's. 'I suspect our revered heads of cult would have done this already if they could. So what's wrong?'

'The traitor,' Seisi said. 'You can't rely on the spell to hold. You need one of the original seals, done by a full circle. Our old high priest might have been, eh... .'

Metjen helped him out. 'Moaning Minnie. As weak as a noodle. That would be flatbread for you, Seisi.'

Seisi inclined his head, grinning. 'Exactly, Your... .' A golden ray thundered into the deck straight in front of him.

'Pray forgive. In any case, he was all that, but a dark priest he was not. So the seals created back then would work.'

Metjen drained his juice. 'There's a small problem. We have to find them first. Imhotep shared the whole list and I've mind-chatted with dad. He doesn't recognise anything. With one exception.' His features slackened again and he held the goblet at chest level, unmoving.

'We need to fix him before we fix the portal,' Rani-Ra observed. 'Seems to be a case of data overload. I thought it was his little one to ones with Iseret that caused the problem.'

Not my fault. Doing so many things all at once is very hard at first. Your precious brother did not have enough time to recover. Do not tell him that. He will only neglect his studies again!

'Do I get this right?' Trueth asked. 'The circle spelled some bits and bobs to make the portal fully demon-repellent. How could they get lost, huh? And how does the prof come into the picture? He's an ex-archaeologist, not a magical plumber.'

Use your brains, sister! You are looking at the wrong side of the portal.

Trueth checked, with the exception of Metjen her friends seemed to mirror her confusion. He, however, was still frozen in mid-movement like a robot with circuit problems.

Your thinking is defective! The warriors of the light carried the seals with them when they sallied forth to defend the portal. They were meant to pass through into this world, then close the access. They never did, so the plugs were left behind.

'Left behind where?' Trueth asked just as the only possible answer presented itself, making her breathless.

In the demon world, Iseret confirmed.

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Photo is from DeviantArt 'Rise' by Nile can too. This chapter is dedicated to pixenglish , whose 'Cultivated Girl' is a delightful read and a very new take on old cults.